Camino de Santiago; Part 1, St. Jean to Pamplona

The foothills of the Pyrenees.

The flight to Madrid was uneventful, but just long. American Airlines was alright, we got dinner and breakfast on the trans-Atlantic leg.

We arrived in Madrid at 10 a.m. It is a large airport with many facilities, including a Metro link and a railroad line. Since our hotel was close to the RR, the information lady suggested we take the more direct RR ride, and it was a winner at only 5 €.

Our hotel was an AC Carlton, and was very nice. Indeed, we decided to book our last 2 night in Spain there so we could see more of that city. Next day we hopped on the train to Pamplona. We got to view a lot of central Spain which looks a lot like central California, but with older buildings!

From Pamplona, we caught a bus to France and to St. Jean Pied de Port. This is a pretty town in southwestern France whose main claim to fame is being a principal jumping off point for the Camino. Lots of pilgrims, (peregrinos) in the place, and lots of facilities for them. The Pilgrim's Office was crowded with folks picking up their Pilgrim's passport and the people working there also helped us find a place to stay for the night.

In order to qualify for the inexpensive hostels, (albergues) along the way, you need a Pilgrim's Passport (credencial), which is stamped at each place you stay. This becomes a ritual; you stagger into an albergue and produce your national passport and your credencial, and then you're given a bed and your credencial is stamped.

We stayed at Refuge Le chemin vers l"Etoile, an old albergue in the heart of the old town, It's owner was a nice guy who gave us a lot of advice about walking the Camino, some of it made sense, some, not so much, but he was good-natured. He also prepared a nice communal supper for us which we shared with several other peregrinos, most of whom were not english speaking, but we still had a pretty good time.

We started out the next morning before sunrise. We were a little apprehensive about starting in the dark, but we eventually saw a lot of other walkers so we just followed behind and had no problems finding the way. It was one of the toughest stages we were to encounter on the Camino, due to the climbing and wind! By the end of the day we had covered almost 24 kilometers after 8 1/2  hours, a long day indeed!

Arriving in Roncesvalles, we came to the main albergue. It was a big one, and one of the best organized we were to encounter. Also on of the nicest, it was fairly new and provided us with 2-bed cubicles which were nice and we had a nice meal at the restaurant. 

CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO PHOTOS.

The Albergue at Orrison, between St. Jean and Roncesvalles.

The locals

Roncesvalles, our destination, is there in the center.

After Roncesvalles, we walked for two days to return to Pamplona! The first night we stayed at a municipal albergue which was really different from the Roncesvalles. Definitely a step down! The next day we made our way to Pamplona, actually stopping just outside of the city in Villava.  On the way, we stopped for a second breakfast at a really neat trekking cafe set along the trail on the side of a river. 

Our albergue in Villava was a private one, we got a semi-private, four bed room which was a tad more expensive than our last, but which turned out to be a good deal since no one else ended up in the room, so we got a private room!